Dog Show, Zwolle, October 2010

(Not) Getting a US Visa: What an Ordeal

Being an Indonesian when it comes to applying for a US Visa sucks.
- you fill the application form, you call to make an appointment (and this call is not free of charge and I'm not talking about the cost you pay to the phone company)
- you put effort gathering a lot of supporting documents (more time and expenses)
- you get your photo taken (they have a very specific photo rule that not any photo shop in town can do so that you have no choice but to pay more at a photo shop that can)
- you pay the (high) non-refundable fee
- you go to the consulate at the appointed date and time (going there also costs money - and time)
- after you pass the security checks, you wait for your name to be called (sometimes you have to wait way pass the original appointment time before they call your name)
- you get (a 5-minutes) interview in which they ask you questions but don't even bother to look at the supporting documents you have gathered
- then the officer tells you that he can not grant you the visa for some sad excuse ("I recommend you to get a status in the NL", that's what the officer said)
- you try to reason with him but he just dismiss you

I am upset because:
- I have a status in the NL. I've lived here since 2006 for god's sake. And I brought papers to prove that I am registered here and I can pay for the vacation but he did not even look at the supporting documents I brought
- Again I was treated like a 3rd class person

"Once an application has been refused, the decision is not appealable. Applying for a non-immigrant visa is not primarily a document-based process. The main issue in determining if an applicant qualifies for a visa is intent, and documents alone cannot establish intentions."
No, I don't intend to go to the US and then just disappear there and become an illegal migrant. My intention is to have a vacation there and then return to the NL.
And I do have a status here. I am a residence of the NL - Do you think I reside here illegally? I have a residence permit. Besides, do you think I would apply for a US visa if I were residing here illegally? I have university degrees so I am not that stupid.

I think what upset me is the combination of the officer not bothering to even look at the documents I brought and him telling me to get a status in the NL. That really made me feel like he saw me as a 3rd class person (or maybe even lower?). That was so degrading.

What an ordeal. What a waste of time and money.
Chin up... there are other (more) beautiful and nice(r) countries to visit.

15th Gay Pride Canal Parade 2010

It was a rainy day but that did not stop people (including myself) from watching it.
The parade was scheduled to start at 14.00 but it started a bit earlier.
On this very day there was a Gay-cruise with around 2600 gay passengers docking in Amsterdam.
Some pictures from the Gay Canal Parade in Amsterdam, 8 August 2010:





Click this link for more information on the Amsterdam Gay Pride.
Video of the 15th Gay Pride Canal Parade: NOS Headlines

Bitchin' About Holland

Today, just after we finished watching Flashpoint, I threw a question at my boyfriend (the matter of the question is not really important here and for the sake of this posting, the question had nothing to do with Holland). Maybe he was tired or maybe he had his reason but he reacted so disinterested and discouraging that I felt stung.
When later he noticed I was unhappy about something, he asked why and I told him that after a day with not really anyone to talk to, I was longing for some adult conversation.
He said that with me it was not really a conversation and that I was more looking for a 'bin' where i could offload verbally and that I always bitched about Holland (he is Dutch).
I wonder if there is some truth in this.
Maybe I am looking for a 'bin' to offload verbally but can you really blame me after a day not talking to anyone? I mean really talking - the small talks in a shop between myself and the shopkeeper or cashier don't count.
Maybe I do bitch (read: critize) about Holland but who doesn't? I'm sure even the Dutch bitch about Holland every now and then. Every now and then I just get so frustrated that I just have to offload - or 'to bitch about it' if you prefer.
I do try to be less critical (or 'bitchy' if you prefer) but sometimes I just have my moments. Sometimes I just feel that I fight this hopeless battle on my own. And during those moments, am I not allowed to be bad to feel a little bit better?
If my offloading or criticizing is seen as bitching, then bitching it is.
If I'm bitching too much about Holland, then give me a good reason to stop.

PS: I guess it's commonly acceptable for a citizen to bitch about his country but it's not ok for someone else to bitch about that citizen's country.

Gouda Cheese Market

It was not planned but when I woke up this morning, the sky looked promising that I decided to go to Gouda. My reasons were (a) I was just bored and wanted to go somewhere and (b) there was a cheese market in Gouda today. So my destination was decided. I had only 15 minutes to get ready and go to the train station in order not to miss the 8.45 train. This train would get me in Gouda just 9 minutes before the start of the cheese market.
It was not big - 2 rows of cheese and two or three horse carriage with a few kaasmeisjes (literally means cheese girls) and kaasjongens (literally means cheese boys) and a few adults who ran the show. Nevertheless it was a show on its own.
My first cheese market in the Netherlands.
Other than in Gouda, there is also a cheese market in Alkmaar, Edam and Hoorn.
Next cheese market: Alkmaar.

Info: Gouda cheese market is held on every Thursday from 10.00 am until 12.00 pm from mid/end June until end August at the Markt.

Second Attempt at Making Cupcakes

These are the result my second attempt at making cupcakes. Well, most of the cupcakes have been eaten. :)
I went for chocolate-cinnamon cupcakes and they turned out to taste pretty good.

My (old) experience with V&D (Part 2)

Apology from V&D
December 9th, 2008

Friday last week, my bf & I left a complaint letter at V&D mailbox. And guess what??? Today we got a call from V&D. They apologized. I did not talk to the person from V&D though. Did not feel like talking to her although she wanted to speak to me in person. She told my bf that it was not supposed to happen that way and also offered me a cup of coffee by V&D. Oh yeah, she was not the shopkeeper but the supervisor of the shopkeeper who maltreated me.
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To this day, this experience is still fresh in my mind.
Whenever it crosses my mind, I still get furious. Like a cup of coffee will make everything all right. That shopkeeper should have been fired.
And to this day, I still can not say that I'm very happy with the quality of service here.
There is no such thing as 'the customer is the king' here.

But to be fair, I have met a few friendly people here.

My (old) experience with V&D

This post is also posted in my friendster blog. The reasons I post it here are:
1. I am not active in FS anymore.
2. I want to have most of (if not all) my postings in one blog.
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Klantvriendelijk??? NIET!!!!
November 28th, 2008

I went to V&D this afternoon at around 2.15 pm in my city. V&D is one of the major department stores in the Netherlands. Bad experience with one of the shopkeepers there.

I went to the fitting room to try on some clothes - 2 long-sleeved T-shirts and a pair of pants. There was no one to watch the fitting room… but this is not unusual at V&D. And I’ve been to many V&D’s for so many times so I know the routine. I went in… looked for a ‘room’. I saw one of the bigger rooms was empty… naturally I went for that. Who would not if you could get a bigger room??? Someone had used the room. I saw a hanger and a price-tag lying on the floor. That is also not unusual in a changing room. So I went on trying my clothes. None was good. When I went out the fitting room, a shopkeeper with short blond hair and blue skirt (V&D uniform) was taking care of the clothes left-behind by other fitters. That was not unusual so I took no great notice of that and went on my way to return my clothes to where they were. In front of the fitting room, I stopped to look at some other T-shirts. The shopkeeper who seemed to be around 30-40 approached me and asked for the clothes that were still in my hand. I still had the clothes that I meant to return to their racks. I thought… ‘now… unusual’. They don’t usually ask for the clothes you bring out of the changing room after you are well away from the changing room… But I did not think much about it because by giving her the clothes, I would not have to return them myself to their original racks. So I gave her the clothes. Then she stuck out the hanger with the price tag from the ‘room’ I used. She said something. I assumed she was asking about why there was a left hanger in the room. I said, in my limited Dutch, that it was not a clothing I tried on and that I did not know anything about it. She asked to look inside my bag. I started feeling that something was not right. I felt that she suspected me of stealing the lingerie that used to hang on that hanger. But ok, they do that all the time - look inside someone’s bag if they suspect something. Usually if the sensors by the shop’s entrance/exit make those beeping noises, though. But I was nowhere near the entrance/exit. I was IN the shop, still shopping around. But ok, I did not want to cause a scene so I let her look inside my bag. So she did and saw nothing there. I thought that was that. But no. To my irritation she pressed on. She asked if I could come back to the fitting room to see if I did not have the lingerie on me. I said “I did not even try the thing on.” She said, “Are you sure? Because now you still have a chance…”. A chance for what? A chance that she would not turn me in to the police if she found the lingerie on me???? I said again “I’m sure. I did not even try it on.” She pressed on. “Are you sure? Because you had so many clothes…”, she said again and she went through the clothes I tried on, which by now already hung at her “clothes rack”. By that time I was so irritated that I spoke louder that I usually do. I said,”I am sure. You can look if you want.” She kept pressing on. She asked if i could open the coat I was wearing so she could see the strap of bra!!! That was outrageous. But I am by nature not a person who is confrontative. And it was embarassing so I just wanted it to be over as quickly as possible. So I did what she asked. She saw no stolen bra and she said ”ok”. That’s it. No apology. NOTHING. She had on a long face during this ordeal. Not even an ounce of politeness.

Never in my whole life had I been treated like I was a thief before - and an already convicted thief at that. Whatever happens to ‘not guilty until proven otherwise’? Whatever happens to ‘klantvriendelijk’ (client-friendly)? Whatever happens to ‘politeness’?

This kind of klanvriendelijk-NOT can only be experienced in the Netherlands. Last year, when I was still a student, I also got a bad experience with one of the chain clothing stores in the NL, namely H&M. But that was not so bad compared to this experience at V&D. By H&M it was just a teenager shopkeeper who made a mistake but he did not apologize. Today was a much more irritating and degrading experience.

Klantvriendelijk???? These dutch people should have their dictionary check. Which part of klantvriendelijk that they don’t understand???
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A new note on this: If I could, I would have done it differently. I would have fired my anger at this particular shopkeeper right there right then. Next time something like that happens to me again, I WILL get angry and demand to see the person in charge.

The Netherlands and The Weather

Why do the Netherlands like to talk about the weather?
I never really thought about this until one day an educated Dutch told me why. This educated Dutch was (and still is, I guess) a professor of a Hogeschool (and no, hogeschool does not mean highschool). He told me that it is most likely because the weather is the only thing that a Dutch can not control nor plan.
The book Doe Maar Gewoon by Hans Kaldenbach also says similar thing. It says:
"In hun wereld waarin alles geordend is, blijft alleen het weer onvoorspelbaar" - meaning "In their world where everything is in order, only the weather remains unpredictable" ('their world' mean the Dutch world).

But however often they complain about the weather, not many Dutch would want to move to a place with a different climate.

My friend A for example. He complained about the cold during this winter but still he would not want to move to Indonesia where it is warmer. And now he 'complains' about how hot it is but still he would want to move to Iceland or Norway or anywhere else that is cooler.

Noisy Neighbour

I know the Netherlands always talk so loudly but this is too much.
It's 00:35 sunday morning and the neighbour across the street had some friends coming over. They talked and laughed so loudly and the music was also loud.
Don't they have any manners at all????

Ah... finally the last guest went away and I can now go to sleep.
But I still wonder about their manners.